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17 of 19 found the following review helpful:
Not Great Dec 09, 2010
By J. Kim
The treadmill itself shipped fairly quickly from Sole. We received it in under 10 days. We set it up yesterday and read all the conditions upon which you might void those wonderful warranties they tell you all about. You think, "It must be good if they're guaranteeing for life." Be careful because there are lots of conditions. The absolute worst thing about this treadmill is the fact that it takes a VERY long time to change speeds. If you're tired and abruptly slow down, you're going to fling yourself off the back before the thing gets down to a manageable speed (almost did that this morning). After the first use it has a strange rub mark on the tread belt and it felt like it was rubbing somewhere, but not constantly. It's definitely not a health club treadmill. Also, though the motor is one of the biggest you can get, it feels like it is overly labored. I'll update after I investigate the rubbing and run on it more.
12 of 15 found the following review helpful:
 solid components but quality control issue Nov 22, 2010
By threeputzzz
I purchased the S77 directly from Sole, took about 10 days to ship. It's heavy but I was able to move it to my basement myself after opening the box in the garage and
moving pieces at a time. It helps that the deck has wheels on the end under the motor. Assembly wasn't too bad but the instructions are poor, diagrams are too small to be of much use and they don't specify things like which side of a part the connected wires should be on. Simple L and R stickers on all the part pairs instead of just one would have helped, and have fun with those plastic arm rail cover pieces.
The parts seem very solid, stable, and heavy duty. Unfortunately once I got it assembled and tried it out there was a slapping sound of wood hitting the frame with every step. I looked underneath and could see that one of the bolts connecting the deck to the frame was missing. After removing enough parts to slide off the side rail cover I found the bolt wasn't missing, it just wasn't screwed all the way down because the hex bolt head had been stripped when it was installed. From the scratches on the deck it looked like they tried to remove it but could not. I was able to remove it with vice grips and it appeared the bolt had simply been cross-threaded. I took the bolt to the local Ace hardware and found a replacement for 85 cents (+ [...] for a hex wrench of the same size), installed it, put the parts back on and now the treadmill works perfectly. The fact that the assembly line (in Taiwan I assume) shipped a defective unit rather than take the time to fix an assembly problem is worrysome. Sole appearently has an issue with the integrity of the people who assemble their products.
The only real complaint I have about the treadmill itself is that it is slow to change speeds compared to commercial models found in gyms. I have not tried the audio feature and will probably not use the speakers as I have a TV mounted on the wall in front of the treadmill. The fan is not terribly strong but isn't bad either.
Update 12/7: Been using the treadmill quite a bit. Turns out speakers work quite well - plenty loud (kid hooked up ipod to it). Still only complaint is very slow to change speeds. Going from 3mph warm up walking to 6mph for running seems to take about 45 seconds - way too long.
6 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Too late to return - so far we loathe this thing Jan 01, 2011
By CottageGardener
This is our second treadmill - 1sst was a Smooth that worked fine for 6 years.
Bought this directly from Sole. My first piece of advice - PAY to have this delivered to the exact spot you want it, and PAY to have it assembled. Sole's website says "Assembly is straightforward, 20-25 minutes." Um, NO. Try two hours, two people. And those plastic arm pieces someone else mentioned? They will drive you quite mad. The holes don't line up, so the pieces don't match up, either. We finally managed to attach them, but it's not possible to make them flush, so they look like the cheap junk that they are.
Directions are simply worthless. Tiny, poorly written. Parts aren't identified...you have to match them with the badly drawn illustrations - there's no "explosive" drawings that show the parts enlarged. And, there is no drawing of how it SHOULD look when complete. Perhaps more mechanical types will do this in a jiffy - but we thought the process was a nightmare.
Finally assembled, plugged in. Can't use it. There's a grinding, scraping noise that makes no sense. Since the deck is all assembled when the thing is delivered, it must be an issue with the deck and the belt. Since it's Friday night...it will be two days before we can even call someone at Sole and begin the laborious inquiries.
TRUST ME - PAY someone to assemble this.
Can't review the actual working of the treadmill, because it doesn't work.
Here's an example of the hilarious instructions: "Belt tension is not critical for most users. It is very important though for joggers and runners in order to provide a smooth, steady running surface." Um - who else besides runners and joggers - whatever a "jogger" is - would be using the machine?
UPDATE: Well, it's going back. Takes FOREVER to change speeds, so not very helpful for interval training. Sole's return dept. was pretty cool - quick response and easy to work with. Beware, though - there's an 8% restocking fee to return this - So it's going to cost you around $150 just to try it out. I strongly advise anyone to buy a treadmill locally.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Great treadmill Feb 22, 2011
By kelly
Unfortunately, the treadmill arrived with several broken pieces, including the console. The customer service however has been very good and the replacements were sent quickly. The machine itself is very good, solid and strong. We really like it.
5 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Solid after a week; quality problems with packaging and plastic Dec 21, 2010
By G. Garza
I bought a 2011 S77 directly from Sole; I paid extra to have the box moved into my house and it arrived about 12 days later. Unless you have several people to help move it, paying extra for inside delivery is worth it because it is bulky and heavy. Once it's inside though, as long as it's right-side up and on the correct floor, you can wheel it into position and assemble it solo relatively easily.
Assembly was straightforward BUT there were two critical pieces missing (steel brackets that help secure the posts supporting the console) and one of the plastic pieces was malformed. To Sole's credit, when I called they FedEx'd the parts the same day (after initially saying they might be out-of-stock on the brackets--common problem?). However, you'd think the quality control would be a little better for something this expensive.
The treadmill itself is decent. I've only put around 15 miles on it so far, but it feels solid and the running area is big. As other reviewers have mentioned, it takes a long time to change speeds, which isn't so great for doing intervals. The console is intuitive enough and works; I don't think it's worth the extra money over a 2009-10 model, though.
I'll call it "good enough"--for the money you get a big solid running surface.
Oh, and one final warning: included with the treadmill was a brochure to buy an extended warranty from one of the top treadmill review sites on Google. So the rumors of Sole "buying" positive press on the internet would seem true.
See all 8 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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